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>> gretchen: that was fun with carry on from the grammys last night. >> brian: it was raining there. >> steve: it looked like it. >> brian: real quick, chris kyle is being memorialized, this navy seal. i did a half hour interview with him which we posted on the web site. it was real good. it's a good perspective on who he was. >> steve: fantastic. that's going to wrap up our program for today. throughout the day, you'll hear the very latest on the pope suddenly resigning. and of course, here on our program tomorrow, we will have further updates. so we hope you join us. >> gretchen: log on for the after the show show. have a great monday. good-bye, everyone. 600 years. it is big news and hit like a

bombshell today. i figured you needed some news. martha: you came back from your vacation with very big news. bill: i want to thank the pontiff for waiting for this. martha: even the pope's closest advisers say this decision took them by surprise. the news broke a couple hours ago. in his statement he says after repeatedly examined my conscience before god that my strength due to an advanced age are no longer suited to the petrine ministry. >> reporter: pope benedict 16 says he will be quitting february 28, less than 8 years

into his papacy. he said his strength has deteriorated the last couple months and he noted a lack of strength to fulfill his mission. the senior sa senior advisor sae noticed the pope slowing down. we watched pope john paul ii suffer through the last few years of his papacy. maybe he wanted to avoid that. the former cardinal joseph ratzinger was touched by the charges of child abuse in the catholic church. bill: what happens next on the dates that are aren't?

>> reporter: he's leaving february 28, 8:00 p.m. local time in rome. that leaves that very important vacancy and sets up a conclave of cardinals. vatican says by mid-march at the latest. vatican says we should have a new pope by esther sunday march 31. pope benedict will not take part in the conclave. usually a conclave happens after a pope dies. 1415 was the last time a pope quit in office. who is the next pope? he could come from developing areas of the world. it guarantees a lot of drama and a lot of black or white smoke coming from the roof is sistine chapel. march report concerns about the

pope's health surfaced this past christmas eve. have it can watchers say he looked frail as he delivered the midnight mass. here he is riding in a motorized cart. the mass is moved up two hours to give the pope time to rest for the christmas day speech. he took the opportunity to urge peace in the middle east during the holidays and was looking rather frail at christmas before this big decision. dill * it was remarkable to watch him at the midnight mass the amount of help he needed to move anywhere inside of st. peter's. cart mall timothy dolan, the archbishop of new york made this statement. >> i was very startled and i don't know what to say.

i'm waiting for information, for instructions as to what we would do now as the college of cardinals. as soon as i find out i'll let you know. i would have to say my affection for and admiration for pope benedict 16 has skyrocketed. it was already high. but i love him so much. as a brother bishop. as the bishop from rome who appointed me to the arch diocese of new york to the holy father who made me a cardinal and i always admired him as a scholar, as a priest, as a holy man. now my admiration for him is even higher because of his humility. i would presume -- i don't have any insider information, but i would presume his esteem for the office as the successor of st. peter and the chief pastor of the church universal, that

esteem is so high that in all humility he said i can't do it anymore. bill: that is quite a statement from the archbishop. cardinal dolan says he still wears the ring and the cross the pope gave him. martha: we are waiting for a statement from the white house. president obama's only meeting with the pope came in july 2009. they met at the vatican for 35 minutes. the vatican described the meeting as cordial. the first lady and maria and sasha were also present. bill: he spent his life serving the catholic church. the pontiff's given name, joseph ratzinger. only the 9th pope to hail from

the country of germany. he served as a cardinal longer than any pope. he was ordained a priest in 1951. martha: the pope making the first appearance from his balcony after the famous white smoke made it known the world had a new leader. let's take a listen to some of that. [crowd cheering] martha: what a moment that was. that was eight years ago. you remember the days of black smoke that led to the emergence of that white smoke. benedict from the beginning was the lead candidate in many people's eyes to take over. the next day from this, april

20, pope benedict led his first mass from the sistine chapel as the pontiff. eight years later we begin the church and the process of finding the next pope. bill: there is so much rich history and tradition here. you have to go back to 159. >> pope ervin died 13 days after assuming the papacy. pope benedict xvi was elevated to that position at the age of 78. we were so used to pope john paul ii. he served just shy of 30 years. the amount of vibrancy and energy he brought to shall we call it the job, and how joseph

ratzinger was much more i think laid back is a paraphrase and much more low key throughout his papacy compared to the man in the position before him. martha: at that time obviously the legacy of sphoap john paul was so -- the legacy of pope john paul was so huge. some those would be a transitional pope before the next person was ready to take over. we have a lot to go over with all of this in the course of the next couple hours. in the meantime we want to bring you this breaking news and fill you in on this situation unfolding in a courthouse in wilmington, delaware where we just heard shots have been fired. police are confirming there are several injuries in this case. the building is on lockdown. some people are still inside

that building. we have a crew en route there. we'll bring you the latest information as soon as it becomes available. another day, another shooting story. the los angeles police department is offering a $1 million reward for information that would lead to the capture of a former police officer. christopher dorner accused of murdering three people in a rampage last week and included in those deaths is a police officer. here is video that shows dorner during this police training. we have not seen much of this man in action. we have still pictures last week that show how big a buy he is. strong man as evidenced by this video. this is interesting to see this. and they are searching very hard to get their hands on this guy who killed three people. 50 people are named in his

online manifesto and they are unpolice protection until he's found. that is fascinating to look at those videos. william lajeunesse joins us. how is it going there, william? >> reporter: with that price on his head and the posse on his tail christopher dorner has been on the run for six days. over the weekend police released new surveillance photos taken from a hotel in san diego last week. police were on tactical alert for the grammy award. also the city putting out a $1 million reward for his arrest. the largest in the city's history. police are guarding 50 lapd families. >> it's my sincere desire to bring mr. dorneer to justice, to bring him to court, to capture him alive. that is absolutely what i want.

and it would be my preference that if he's watching this, that he surrender so that we can end this nightmare. >> there is a task force of federal and local police to serve as a clearing house for those leads coming in. martha: where is the search focused now? i know they were in the bear mountain area last week. >> reporter: that's still going on. but this is a photo released by the riverside police of a victim. michael crane. former marine. two tours in the middle east. he leaves behind a wife and a son. police scaled back their search in the san bernardino mountains. they found two rifles and a handgunth his burngd out vehicle. the chief says they are going to

reopen the hearing to assure the city that it was a fair hearing and not based on racism as dorner claims. bill: we have much more on what's happening out of the vatican and what will happen now. but first billions in defense spending cuts to take effect at the end of the month unless a deal is made. democrats want more tax cuts. republicans want to cut spending. who will blink first in washington? we'll find out. martha: over 4,000 people are stranded on a cruise ship in the middle of the gulf of mexico. details on how this happened and the latest effort to get those folks home. bill: a lot of world leaders reacting to the pope's historic resignation.

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martha: we have continuing coverage of the breaking news out of the vatican. pope benedict 16 announced he will step down at the end of this month saying he no longer has the strength for the job. his last trip overseas was a 3-day visit to lebanon last september. his first trip to lebanon since pope john paul went there. it's a country that's 30% christian. so many questions as to why, having watched john paul ii this hope made a very different decision. we'll talk about that. bill: the pentagon facing sweeping budget cuts which

lefers secretary leon panetta would be a threat to our security. >> i don't want to see taxes increased but i would like to see the president call the leaders over to the white house and say, look, we have got to solve this problem. outgoing secretary of defense, leon panetta, is one of the most widely respected persons in washington, d.c. he's saying this will devastate tour security. republicans and democrats are responsible for this new cliff. and i'll take responsibility for the republicans but we have got to stop it, we have to avoid it. bill: you are going to hold a hearing tomorrow on these cuts. what is your best solution? >> i believe the cuts are going

to happen. the president is insistent on tax increases or cuts and i think he gets spending cuts, about half of them are in the military. the best solution is let the defense department target those cuts rather than take across the board cuts. i think they will happen. i'm not going to be for tax increases and i suspect there will be no taxes. bill: just to be clear, the sequestration will happen then. the defense department will be hit with $500 million in cuts. >> the cuts will happen. the president has to decide if he's willing to make some cuts on the entitlement programs so execution security, medicaid, medicare lasts for another generation. that's the kind of compromise he could make if he wanted to. i certainly agree with senator mccain that he ought to call the leaders down to the white house

and figure out what needs to happen so we do the right thing in the right way rather than the right thing in the wrong way. everybody knows we have to reduce spending. and we have to decide what spending we are going to reduce. at this point the spenting will be across the board in defense and non-defense discretionary. if that's the only choice, it's better than not getting the spenting under control. bill: nancy pelosi says it's a false argument to say we have expanding problem. >> the president said something similar to speaker boehner. of course, we have spending problem. bill: speaker boehner has been on the opposite side of that for years now saying the president got cold feet when it came to getting big deal and not forced into sequestration. >> i think the president had a great hunt in october and early

december to get a lot of these things out of the way and he chose not to. it's time for the president to lead. and we wouldn't be going from one crisis to another. when you refuse to lead you allow yourself to be defined by crisis. why is it we are constantly churching from one crisis to another instead of solving these problems. i'm ready to solve them now, i think we should have solved them last year. but we did increase taxes last year on the group the president said was the solution for solving the revenue problem. it's a big issue to handle. we'll catch up the hearing tomorrow. senator mccain suggests for every three retirees, replace one and that solves the problem. martha: more than 3 feet of snow

that hit parts of the northeast, people are continuing to try to get out from under it. more extreme weather may be on the way. live in a spot that got 40 inches of snow. bill: even the insiders did not know this was going to happen. pope benedict saying he will retire, stepping down at the end of the month of february. we are back live in vatican city with a reporter who knows that church inside out. [ whistle blows ]

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martha: stunning news this morning and world leaders reacting to news that pope benedict will resign at the end

of this month. the pope said this. he said in today's world subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern and proclaim the gospel both strength of mind and body are necessary. i have had to recognize my incapacity in order to fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. we are trying to read into this huge and surprising decision by pope benedict 16. i'm happy to be joined by joan lewis. joan, good morning. your reaction to this big news today. >> it's stunning, martha. it caught everyone, the

cardinals, the press office director, the media, it caught all of us by surprise. but i worked for the vatican for 15 years, covered the pope, have covered the vatican of benedict xvi ever since. it's stunning but not surprising. he recognized and has said in interviews if his strength got to the point where he could not bear the burdens of the office he would resign. so he kept true to his word. and he saw how the church could suffer under a suffering pope. we saw the last month, years and days of john paul and his closest friend hen cardinal ratzinger now benedict saw what could happen when there was that kind of weakness. martha: obviously pope john paul ii made the opposite decision. he talked about aging and being

infirm and how he was still able to have the joy of living, even when his body was able to fail him he was thanking god for the ability to continue. so that is dramatic in terms of the theology of it. it's a very different and dramatic choice to make, to say no, i'm finished with what i can do in this capacity. >> you are absolutely right. but cardinal soldano, the dean of the college of cardinals which has 118 members who can elect the pope in the next conclave. he referred to the great love benedict had for the church and the petrine ministry. i see in this a courageous decision to step aside so the church can go forward with a stronger man physically. certainly not mentally.

his mental capacity has not diminished at all. martha: he has been very active in terms of naming new cardinals, especially over the last year. is that something we should look back to as him preparing the future of the church and the future of the vatican and looking for that next leader? >> have much so. that's how i would look at it. he had no one in italy on the list. he had the universal church, the philippines, america, he had lebanon. is he looking to a different world? was he giving a signal? interestingly enough january 26 he made his own secretary an archbishop. assuring him of a position in the church'. he won't be a monsignor who will

be lost in oblivion. you know, martha, today is the world day of the sick. it's a vatican holiday because vatican city state was created. the world day of the sick is being celebrated in the pope's native germany. i'm wondering if he didn't choose this significant date to make that announcement. his meeting with the cardinals today, it was planned. martha: joan, thank you for all of your background and insight and joining us from the vatican. thank you, joan. bill: how rare is this development? we haven't seen this in more than 600 years. what is behind his decision. who will lead a billion catholics worldwide now. that's all still to come on this

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it's made only from prunes, nothing else. it works, simple as that. it's a natural source of fiber and five essential vitamins. it's the smart choice for me. stay fit on the inside with sunsweet's amazing juices. bill: there is a coast guard cutter expected to reach a cruise ship adrift in the gulf of mexico. the carnival cruise line ship was headed to mexico when a fire knocked out the ship's propulsion system. more than 4,000 people

aboard the ship are now stranded and the husband of one of the passengers spoke with a local tv station in texas. here is what he had to say. >> carnival called me to tell me that, there was a problem. that there was a fire in the engine room and that the fire was contained and everything was all okay. she was crying and stuff and said, you know, they have no power. they have no running water. they have no way to use the bathrooms. if they would tell you the truth it would not be so bad. bill: there is a spokesperson for carnival that says the ship does have power, running on backup generators and received extra supplies from another cruise ship. they could use those, huh? the tip will be towed back to shore but that could take another two days. good luck. martha: let's get back to our top story today as pope benedict shocks the world with his resignation announcement this morning. he will be stepping down at

the end of the month. john moody worked as "time" magazine's vatican bureau and wrote a biography on pope john paul ii. executive editor of foxnews.com and interviewed pope benedict in the past when he was cardinal. >> thanks martha. martha: very good to have you with us this morning. what is your reaction to the news? >> i think it is one of the bravest things i ever heard of. nobody gives up power willingly without forenot. this man who the world has not gotten to know very well despite the fact he has been around as pope for seven years to do this speaks volume the kind of man he is and kind of leader of the church he insisted on being. martha: obviously pope john paul ii was a rock star one of the phrases that had been used for him, so popular all around the world, so popular with young people. it was a tough spot to sort of step into. and he was determined to go on and on and on and he felt

that being infirmed was part of his, his worship in many ways to god. >> that's right. martha: we have a quote from pope john paul ii i would like to pull up if we could. he said despite the limitations brought on by age i continue to enjoy life. for this i thank the lord. it is wonderful to give one's self to the very end for the sake of the king dom of god. here we have benedict making a different choice. you say it is very brave. why? >> i do indeed. if you look how pope john paul ii looked at the end of the his life as you saw on the screen. he was a horrible paler of what he was when he first took the papacy. he was a young dynamic polish guy and spoke every language known to man. martha: skier. >> and canoeist, all of that. benedict came into the papacy reluctantly. he is a thinker, a scholar, a theologian. he didn't want the limelight. just as you indicated he wanted to continue john paul's legacy and make sure nothing radical happened.

radicalism to cardinal ratzinger and pope benedict was anathema. martha: we've seen over the course of the history of popes in some way as person who comes in for a shorter period of time. it was as you and i discussing at break felt at the time of pope john paul ii he was the right person to keep the faith, to hold onto the gains made under john paul ii. what have we learned from benedict about what comes next? >> i think the pope served, if you will, his time with great honor and valor. the when it elects popes has a history going long pope, short pope, long pope, short pope. obviously when they reached out to elect carol who became the john paul the 2nd after john paul the first only serve ad few weeks as a pope. they were shaken by this immediate death of their leader and wanted somebody younger and more robust. i think that is what you might see this time again.

martha: i wonder, people talk about archbishop or about cardinal dolan in new york as one of the no doubt minutes away probably in the news cycle starting to put together lists people that are considered. would he look to other parts of the world or going back to, it was a big deal when they picked first non-italian in a long time in pope john the second. where do you see this going? >> i think the roman catholic church international alized itself and can not go back to being a italian conclave anymore. cardinal dolan has to be in serious consideration and who might be next. yankee fans all over the world would celebrate of course. he is a wonderful man. being an american is not an immediate advantage when you're in the conclave to be pope. martha: very interesting. john, thank you so much. i know we'll be talking with you throughout this process which will be extending over the next four weeks. >> i hope so. martha: as we continue to watch all this. thank you, john.

good to see you as always. bill: 20 one minutes before the hour. a lot is happening this monday morning. we're getting our first pictures at a shooting at a courthouse. an update on that. new questions about drone strikes around the world. more on the breaking news from the vatican. this move even surprising those who know the pope best. keep it here on the fox news channel for all the latest developments as we continue our coverage after this tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like no atm fees, worldwide. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and no nuisance fees. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus deposit ches with mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and manage your cash and investments tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab's mobile app. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're looking for a bank that's in your corner, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 not just on the corner... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪

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bill: here we go. we mentioned this 25 minutes ago. a shooting at a courthouse in wilmington, delaware. apparently that's been resolved. police confirm there are several injuries. according to the mayor the shooter is dead and one of the victims includes the man's wife. it is all breaking right now. we're working on details to fill in exactly what happened there in wilmington but those are the latest images you're watching there at 9:43 in the morning delaware time. we will get back to that as soon as we get more. meantime in announcing his decision to resign pope

benedict says he doesn't have the strength to uphold his duties any longer. here is the vatican spokesman, a former fox news correspondent, greg burke by phone a bit earlier today. >> basically, you know, slow to step, you know. it's a gradual. i think a lot of people here were shocked today, oh, my gosh, what happened? it is severe and this grave? no, i don't believe it is. i think we've seen some things. he looked a little more tired. you see him he doesn't walk as well. doesn't manage steps as well. and that, you know, that kind of thing but there has been nothing really, it hasn't been drastic. bill: sure. >> just a gradual slowdown. bill: greg coven, author of, hole father, pope benedict xvi, pontiff for a new era. >> good to be here, bill. bill: you told our producers this that is a move pope john paul ii, his predecessor would not have considered. explain that. >> pope john paul ii had

been ill for a long time before he finally passed away in two how five and there were people who advised him, critics from the outside, as well as insiders, at least to consider this idea but he felt it was a lifetime responsibility. that he would not give up this important role as shepherd of the entire universal church during his lifetime. bill: i also felt though that the message of pope john paul ii was the respect life in all its forms, whether that's the life of a baby or whether that's the life of an aging pope who still needed the attention of the people around him to take care of that life until he left his earthen vessel. i always felt that was the moment when pope john paul ii was in the window at the vatican, the last time seen publicly. you saw the dove fly in and land. it was almost as if the holy spirit were calling him to the heavens above. i felt that he, it was

important for him to show people about his human condition so that they respect even him until the very end on this world. >> yes. that's a very good point. he's an exceptional historical figure as well but that was part of his philosophy and the way he lived his life and carried out his mission. so i couldn't disagree with you that that was the purpose that he --.

he loved the church so much, and doesn't want to put the church in a position until there is illness or twilight of the papacy so someone new can get the ball rolling again. bill: clearly it was the church first. he was just a facilitator in that job. at this point in the church's history. after eight years it was time to step to the side. on midnight mass, if you saw that, this is a man that was very frail. and as he moved throughout the basilica in st. peter's he needed help to go about anywhere. >> he did. it has been apparent for some months that has been the case. it wasn't a total surprise to have the news this morning. it is a bit of a shock to the system since of course as you have spoken about it hasn't happened in 600 some years. but, ultimately it is not a

real surprise the pope is a very modern thinker, actually. bill: how so? >> this is a very contemporary away to approach the problem instead of hanging on, relying on tradition as so many perhaps would but in had his case he is really thinking ahead of the next pontiff and of the next century and the next generation. bill: let's do that also. who succeeds him? >> very good question of course. there will be a lot of speculation. my strong thoughts it will be someone who is noneuropean this time, i really do think, that latin america, african, or asian. there are any number of very strong candidates. bill: is there any one at the top of your list you care to mention? >> the one at the type of my list is cardinal turkson from ghana. he is a name in my research over the past couple years has really come up. meets the criteria of sort of age when he was appointed a cardinal, his experience,

pass storm experience in africa as well as the experience within the holy sea. bill: we'll seep an eye on that name. greg, thank you very much. it is always a fascinating time because you have 67 million americans in this country. you have those who are not catholic, that they find the whole process engaging, quite miss call, and i think we'll all go through that together over in thing weeks. thank you, greg. >> look it up, holy spirit. >> will do. greg tobin. thank you. here's martha. martha: meantime over the weekend senator lindsey graham went ballistic on the issue of benghazi. he says that unless he gets answers he is not letting go of this story. he says there will be no vote on the president's nominee for secretary of defense. and that is not all. no confirmation he says without the information that he seeks. that is many could coming up next. new honey bunches of oats greek.

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bill: we're hearing from the vatican that they will hold a conclave before easter.

that is the conclave is, the group of cardinals, all of whom must be under the age of 80. they will meet to elect a new pope. they will do it in the sistine chapel. in terms of americans we have 11 american electors that will participate in the conclave. this picture shows seven of them. in his tenure pope benedict announced 22 cardinals in total. 18 of the 22 are under the age of 80 making them eligible to vote. one of those is archbishop of new york, timothy dolan. he was elevated last spring and edward o'brien from the city of baltimore. martha: so republican senator lindsey graham making no bones about it over the weekend. he has threatened to block president obama's picks for cia director, john brennan and for defense secretary, chuck hagel unless the president provides more information on the september 2012 attack on our consulate

in benghazi, libya. listen to this. >> how could they say after panetta and dempsey said it was a terrorist attack that night, how could the president say for two weeks after the attack it was the result of a video? how could susan rice come on to show to say there is no evidence of a terrorist attack when sick tear of defense and joint chiefs knew that that night? i think that was a misleading narrative three weeks before our election. >> he is hanging onto this in a big way. joining me, kt mcfarland, fox news security analyst . what do you think he is saying, kt? >> what he is talking about is the most significant part. and that is the president had nothing to do with this. that the secretary of defense and the chairman of joint chiefs of staff now said at the beginning of this attack american embassy under attack, american ambassador gone missing they told the president and that was it. the president had nothing more to do with it. martha: why? >> why? because he wanted deniability. by making that decision,

don't let me know what's going on, basically meant they were expendable. we were not going to rescue them. we were not going to do anything about it. we might watch events unfold but we would not do anything to stop it. martha, in the 40 years i've been in this business i never seen a president step away like that when his people were under attack. when there was potentially a military operation going on, whether it was jerry ford, whether it was richard nixon, whether it was jimmy carter with the rescue mission, failed rescue mission of the diplomats in tehran or ronald reagan with grenada. never has a president just said, thanks very much. let me know later what happens. ding. puts the phone down. martha: panetta suggested that was not the way he was. that the president was very much wanted to know what was going on. when he asked did he call you back? did he get it touch with you, the answer to that was no. we also know we had forces in italy were told, actually, don't take off just yet. you need to change out of uniform if you're going to be involved in this in any way. in the end they were not

involved in any way. so it goes to the bigger question again why? why would the president not want to step in and help these people? >> what i heard they didn't want a black hawk down incident. any use of american forces before an american election. they could have a situation where there were even more american casualties, american hostage, something would have happened. i think the other thing the president and white house didn't want to get involved with this. remember what panetta and dempsey said in the testimony last week. nobody from the white house was in touch with them. they didn't get in touch with anybody. so that was seven to 11 hours, there was no contact with anybody in the president's chain of command. i think what that means, is no, no military officer, no chairman of the joint chiefs, no secretary of defense, is going to commit american forces without the president's say so. by the president basically being out of the loop, that meant nothing was going to happen. martha: kt, thank you. >> thank you. martha: the story's not over. a lot of people think it is and it is not. lindsey graham has other things in mind.

thank you, kt. >> thanks. bill: in a moment we have continuing coverage of the bombshell announcement that was dropped from the vatican about four hours ago. there is sadness and concern certainly among the 68 million adult catholics in this country. we're live from st. patrick's cathedral and the reaction from cardinal timothy dolan. >> we call him our holy father. there is a bit of sadness. it is like watching your own dad get old and admit he is not up to all the duties of being head of the family involves. idn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.

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new fusion proglide sensitive shave gel. gillette. the best a man can get. martha: news alert. very big news this morning. millions of catholics around the world waking up to a stunning announcement from the vatican. pope benedict xvi says he will resign at the end of this month. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: good morning to you at home. i'm bill hemmer.

great to be back with you. the 85-year-old pontiff says his poor health is the reason for his resignation. that could leave rome without a pope for nearly a month. martha: lauren green outside st. patrick's cathedral with how catholics are reacting today. what is the clergy in the united states is reacting to this? >> reporter: the realization they could have a new pope by easter which is march 31st. global population of 1.2 billion catholics is trying to absorb the news that pope benedict will step down in a little more than two weeks. the a vatican spokesman says this was the pope's personal decision without any pressure and he made the decision in the last few months. it came so suddenly including from church insiders, including cardinal timothy dolan who is the highest ranking bish sop in the united states and by all personal accounts has a relationship with the pope and president of u.s.

council of catholic bishops. >> i was very startled. i don't know what to say. i myself am waiting for information, for instructions, as to what we would do now as the college of cardinals and, boy, as soon as i find out i'll let you know. >> reporter: now, it is doubly shocking because wednesday begins the holiest time of the christian calendar. it begins lent. also the vatican spokesman may have wanted to avoid many strenuous engagements that are called on him during the month, during the few weeks of lent. and that is the reason why he is stepping down right now. martha: well, that could be because there would be a lot of duties of course during this most solemn time of the year for catholics. everybody seems to be shocked by this but there were some signals in some ways that he was perhaps preparing for transition in some ways, lauren. >> reporter: you know, like i say hindsight is always

20/20. you can go back to the unprecedented surgeries within a year which elevated about almost 30 cardinals which will be his successor. one of them among the cardinals but more telling might be an interview he gave about three years ago to a german journalist which the journalist asked if he would consider resigning and the pope said, yes, if a pope clearly realize he is no longer fiscally, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office and he has the right and under some circumstances the ultimate obligation to resign. he has never ruled it out. of course now the next phase will be when the cardinals will convene in rome for the conclave to choose the next pope. martha? martha: lauren, thank you very much. lauren green out here in new york city by st. patrick's. bill: with more now, fox news religion contributor, father jonathan morris is with us this morning. father, good morning to you. can you hear me? >> i can hear you fine. there you two. bill: never sounded better by the way.

your initial reaction? what do you think? >> i was shocked as cardinal dolan mentioned. he was shocked. above all because the vatican doesn't like to set new precedent. this is, this is huge in the sense that the next pope, soon as he starts getting sick or elderly, people are going to start asking him very strongly, are you ready to resign? and the reason why, in the past the popes have been very reluctant to do so, they have recognized that the main job of a pope is not to be a manager but rather to protect the teachings of the church and the teachings of the bible. to pass on something to future generations and you don't need to be in perfect health to do that. on the other hand, it is obvious that pope benedict for a good long while, like the great reporting by lauren green just there, recognized that we're living in new times and there are new demands on a pope, in this case, to communicate, to travel, to be a face for

the church, in ways that in the past has never been quite like it. bill: yeah. he is 85. he has got a brother who is 89. there is excellent dna in that family. >> that's right. bill: it is striking to me the contrast between this man and his predecessor because pope john paul ii, he was going to the very end as pope. and now you have a pope, i mean, his personality could not be more different than pope john paul ii and he ran his papacy that way as well. and now you have a man making a decision that is so polar opposite of what pope john paul ii would have done. >> that's true. they were very different one from the other but they were great friends at the same time. he was, john paul ii's closest collaborator as head of the congregation of the doctrine of the faith yet remember that pope benedict, when he was cardinal he watched john paul the 2nd suffer. he also watched the inside

workings of the church and what happened when john paul the 2nd wasn't able to make the type of manage geerl -- managerial decision as pope has to do. bill: how do you think that affected him? >> let's think back to the 2002 sexual abuse scandal. there should have been a much faster response on the part of the vatican what was happening not only here in the united states but in other countries. john paul the 2nd last years was not in the condition to be able to respond in a quick and in a proper fashion. the church has recognized that. i am sure that pope benedict xvi recognizes if he were to be in a coma, for example or for a year or two or otherwise unable to carry out other aspects of his, of his responsibility it is would not be a good thing for the church. there would be consequences. bill: what you're saying is, that hurt the church? >> oh --. bill: in 2002? >> for sure. for sure.

pope benedict also realized we have to communicate in a new way. remember that he just started his new twitter account. i don't think he got it down 100% because he could have used it to resign but that's another story. he recognizes that it is important to go out and to meet people and he is saying, i'm not up for that. i can't do it. there are some reports that his doctors say he could not travel anymore. but the point is, he made, i think a very humble decision. even though no one has done this before in the last, since 1415 --. bill: got to go back a ways. >> it is right time for me to do it now and he did it. bill: thank you, john that. >> thanks. bill: father jonathan morris. martha: hundreds of years is blink of an eye for the catholic church's history. he made his first visit in 2008. he is being driven down in new york city's 5th avenue in the pope mobile we got used to seeing during pope john paul ii's time as pope.

he was instrumental reaching out to other faiths. he was the first to visit a u.s. synagogue. he. he dropped by ground zero to honor those that died during the september 11th attacks. very memorable moment there. he went to yankee stadium, holding a service for 60,000 worshippers in a very wonderful moment when the pope visited new york. great pictures to look at. bill: better reception than a-rod gets. martha: for good reason. bill: to see the pope come up 5th avenue that day, and the front doors of st. patrick's cathedral open for him, it was quite a day. martha: spectacular moment. indeed it was. bill: pope benedict's rein has been marked by a number of major events. he called on china to lift restrictions on religious freedom that quote, suffocate the church. he hosted the first forum at the vatican. in 2009 they reopened diplomatic relations with russia for the first time

since the end of communism in that country. he recalled the ambassador of ireland over unprecedented attack by the church's leader over the handling of the child abuse sex scandal. he nominated 22 cardinals increasing that the chance that is the pontiff will be con. do we believe that. just this past september pope benedict hit 1 millionth mark on twitter. he is 1.million. >> 12th of the 22 were europeans. by numbers it weights them heavier in the group that would be picked from but we'll see. bill: we heard greg tobin a few minutes ago, the author. cardinal angela scola is on the list. archbishop of milan. archbishop of vienna and the canadian head of the vatican office for bishops. we will become much more familiar with these men very soon. martha: they look to africa that would be a very

interesting development a. a lot of growth for africa. let's get back to the weather for a moment because a powerful tornado tore through southern mississippi last night. >> oh, my god, i never seen a tornado before in my life! that is big. martha: well he pretty much said it all. that is a big tornado, massive funnel cloud as it tore through that area. and ted did not do so without leaving damage behind. at least 10 people were injured. a lot of homes and buildings were lost including parts of the university of southern mississippi. >> i saw it right around, as it was crossing interstate 59. it was coming pretty fast. my heart was racing. i lived here my whole life. this is surreal. it is hard to take it in right now. martha: it is surreal. it went through and left a huge mess in its wake. let's bring in elizabeth prann following the story

live from our atlanta bureau. >> reporter: good morning, martha. to add insult to injury people in hattiesburg are trying to clean up this morning in relentless rain. >> hit sam's and wal-mart. >> transformer. >> reporter: now lots of cell phones and camcorders were rolling as that twister ripped through southern mississippi. this long track tornado was on the ground across several counties. it split brick buildings. it picked up trucks and plowed through neighborhoods. i just got off the phone with noaa. officials told me there are 76 reported injuries. mississippi emergency management officials are estimating 300 homes are damaged and 100 roads remain blocked by debris this morning. so far no reports of any deaths. the university of southern mississippi was very hard hit. university firms say many buildings like this one badly damaged but lick cully no injuries on campus because that's likely classes were already canceled for today and

tomorrow for mardi gras celebrations. campus police declared a state of emergency. they asked anyone not on campus to stay away until it was safe and clean. governor phil bryant plans to visit the hard-hit area today and he will hold a press conference in about an hour. noaa officials said the city had 18 minute warning before damaged strike. maybe that's why we're not seeing anymore reported injuries and no fatalities. martha: thank you, elizabeth, very much. bill: we have more on the resignation of the pope. we'll get to that in a minute. there is a new push to have the judge gives a thumb's up on any drone attacks on u.s. citizens overseas. we'll examine that. martha: a big issue right now. the l.a.p.d. is offering a million dollars for any information that leads to the capture of one of their own former officers. we're going to look inside the mind of triple murder suspect christopher dorner who is still out there at this hour.

he's apparently declaring war on the los angeles police department. >> this is a largest local reward ever offered to our knowledge. some may ask why so large? this is an act, make no mistake about it, of domestic terrorism. this is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. his actions can not go unanswered.

bill: this is breaking news. will hinge ton -- wilmington, delaware. word out of lobby of the courthouse there, two women were shot and killed. two officers were shot as well. they're expected to be okay. the gunman, apparently a male, is dead. here's a witness to it. >> she was kind of getting hysterical. she was scared. i'm scared. i'm scared. they're shooting. and that's what she would

say. bill: we're still trying to figure out if the gunman knew one. women that was shot and killed. we're working to get that information now. wtxf with a picture there and images from outside the courthouse. wilmington, delaware, breaking knew. martha: this has been a big issue over the course of the last week and there is growing unease over the president's drone strike program as lawmakers on all sides are taking issue with a policy that critics say gives the president the power to target whoever he wants, wherever he wants, including u.s. citizens. while there seems to be little support for a plan to have a judge approve those attacks before they're carried out, even former defense secretary robert gates agrees there needs to be some check on a policy that seems to give the president the powers of judge, jury and executioner. >> informing the congress or the intelligence committees or something like that. i think some check on the ability of a president to do this has merit as we look to the longer term future.

martha: because where we're looking at the whole question, what happens next? what kind of powers has the president and the executive branch been given in all this? kirsten powers joins me, daly beast columnist and fox news contributor and rich lowery, editor after the. nobody shed too many tears over a lackey and two others killed over the drone strikes. this has gotten a lot of attention because the precedent, the larger issue has gotten congress wanting a piece of this and wanting to make decisions where this is concerned. kirsten what do you think. >> people should shed tears of over anwar awlaki's son was killed. he was never accused being associated with al qaeda. and according to robert gibbs he should have chosen a separate father. he was killed in a drone attack that killed his father. a innocent 16-year-old was

killed because of that. anwar awlaki was in a different situation. he was planning against the united states. he was an american citizen and there needs to be some sort of due process where something like a fisa-like court where the president has to make the case. shouldn't be just bureaucrats. not just the president can do this. it is high level bureaucrats can decide that person is going to die. that american is going to die because we've decided that they are a, you know, plotting against the united states. they don't even have to have actually planned anything, you know, or even shown any real intent to do anything imminently. so i think --. >> what makes us feel different is the drone program is often hitting

people outside of traditional battlefields in afghanistan or say in iraq. it is targeting very specific individuals for assassination. so, more oversight? absolutely. let congress weigh in on this. congress can set out what it thinks the process should be. it can set out the way you, the executive branch would report back to congress which would do its oversight but getting judges involved i think is a very ill-considered proposition both pragmaticly and how it would work. courts consistently said courts should not have anything to do with the conduct of military operations. on constitutional grounds, i doubt very much you could craft a proposal that would pass constitutional muster because this is just such a core executive branch responsibility. martha: i mean as kirsten points out there is collateral damage that happens in any warfare. it happens in these instances as well. the language is that, you know, to fall under this you

would have to believed to be a senior member of al qaeda or an affiliate to be targeted in this way but there's a concern, a larger concern it could happen at home and that is another reason why this gets a ton of attention, skirs den. what is your concerns in that regard. >> of course it could happen at home. that is not necessarily a reason to be concerned. i reject the term collateral damage. these are human beings who are killed. i know that is how we talk about it. there are no different than we are. these are people who have done nothing wrong being blown into pieces by american drones and i think, you know, i just don't, i agree there needs to be oversight. >> are you saying a blanket matter all the people targeted by drones have done nothing wrong? >> collateral damage -- >> if you're in yemen stay away from al qaeda operatives. don't drive in cars with them. >> really, rich, a 16-year-old should be killed because they happen to be near somebody. >> by that standard, by that

standard you could never conduct any war ever. >> that is ridiculous. that is not true. that is absolutely false. >> in world war ii there was no collateral damage? there is no collateral damage in afghanistan. >> let me speak for five seconds? i'm saying don't refer to human being innocent. >> i'm saying -- >> stop interrupting me. martha: we could talk about it a lot longer. i hope we will. kirsten, thank you. rich, thank you. >> thank you very much. bill: light the fire. a lot of vigor. in a moment remembering an american hero, thousands will show up for the memorial service for a navy

bill: there will be a somber tribute as friends and family of america's most prominent sniper and navy

s.e.a.l. gather for a memorial service in arlington, texas. chris kyle was shot last weekend by a fellow military veteran he was trying to help. casey stiegel is live at cowboy's stadium. he will be honored in a significant way, casey. sprain that. >> reporter: he will, be 1:00 oek local time. thousands are expected to turn out as well as family friends, general members of the public will say good-bye to an american hero. tomorrow more tribute are planned. chris kyle's body will be transported to austin, texas to be laid to rest. the former navy s.e.a.l. sniper killed last weekend at a texas gun range along with one of his friends. he was reportedly helping a former marine suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who investigators say killed the two men. the 38-year-old was deemed america's deadliest sniper feared by iraqi insurgents and was given a chest full

of medals during his military career, bill. bill: wow! what is the latest on the investigation? what more have we learned, casey? >> reporter: well, 25-year-old eddie ray routh, the accused gunman remains behind bars on $3 million bond. police searched his home at the end of last week and we understand they turned up drug paraphernalia, ammunition and also a cell phone that may have pictures of the men with the two victims on that phone and police are looking over again. a motive has not been named here although he has said all along, bill, that he was suffering from ptsd. he was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. bill: casey, thank you. you will be watching that when it gets underway. 200 mile journey from dallas to austin. thanks. >> reporter: we will. martha: big news from the vatican this morning with the pope's announcement that he will retire at the end of this month, of february. new reaction is pouring in this morning, including some

reaction from the newly-elevated cardinal, timothy dolan. bill: also a massive cleanup effort underway after a record-setting snowstorm. how about three feet of snow? try that one on. >> shoveling sidewalks i know will take a couple of days. if you you're walking in the street, be very, very careful. we don't want to see a lot of pedestrian accidents. use caution. it will take us a couple of days to get this back in place. [ anouncer ] ihop in time square to compare new griddle-melts to your usual breakfast sandwich. a lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihop's new griddle melts... made fresh and hot! hand crafted just for you. it's like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. just $4. it's like a sexy sandwich. it's an epic breakfast sandwich.

bill: back to the breaking news and a major announcement out of rome today, vatican city. pope benedict xvi says he will resign at the end of february, 28th of this month. the popt tiff blaming his poor health for his retirement, making him the first pope to step down since the middle ages. new york archbishop, timothy cardinal dolan praised the pontiff's decision here earlier today in new york city. >> that esteem is so high in all humility he simply said i can't do it anymore and it would be the best for the church and for me if i step aside. that realistic humility only enhances the wonderful virtues that i seen in cardinal joseph ratzinger and pope benedict xvi. bill: father edward beck is host of sunday mass on abc family channel author of soul provider, spiritual steps to limitless love. nice to see you. >> thanks. bill: good morning to you. i imagine you were surprised? >> i was.

bill: how so? >> first of all i got awakenedded by a news media outlet, you know what happened? you feel like, wow, they know before the priests no. i was surprised because with john paul ii we saw a frail man who was sick and you would have thought if anyone might resign it would be he but he didn't. he held on because he thought it was necessary for stability of the church. i think pope benedict watched that. he was very close to john paul ii. even spoke when john paul ii it was ill, that it is possible a pope can resign if they feel they can no longer do their job adequately. this is a man who knew he said that realizes his own diminishment. he said, you know what? i have to step up to do what i say was possible for me. bill: could not be more of contrast between the two popes. i said this last hour, i thought pope john paul ii stayed in the job very end because he wanted people to see him in the human condition and earthen vessel and you have the job to take care of even people like me. >> that's true. bill: even though i'm the

pope. >> some catholics looked at it, gee, we have a feeble man who is diminishing the head of our worldwide church is he really up to snuff to do it? i think there was some concern. yeah, it was a beautiful image spiritually of somebody in their decline saying, but look at me, as an example. but you want someone who can administrate a worldwide church. bill: understood. pope benedict made that quite clear throughout his eight-year papacy. what is his legacy? have you been able to contemplate that yet? >> certainly he moved the church more to the right and it became more conservative in its morality and theology. he was a theologian. he thought the church went too far to the left and he want ad sense of identity and brought it there. for some that was a very positive thing because it gave the church more of an identity, some would say centrist or rightest, whatever. he certainly brought it there. so that is part of his legacy. people also don't actually get the man. i know some people who knew

him where they used to make retreats. this is a gentle, cat-loving simple man. everybody --. bill: you could see it in his hand almost, right? >> pianist. bill: real gentle guy. the his deem mean nor was a little below the radar. i think that is how he led the church over the past eight years. now you think about a successor. >> yeah. bill: sounds strange to say it but do you have a favorite? do you have a pick? do you have someone who you believe is the right man at the right time for this job? >> well, remember, john paul ii and pope benedict appointed all the cardinals who will vote in this. the majority are europeans. many have felt after a polish pope and a german pope they want an italian pope. they want to bring it back to italy. a quarter of those europeans that will vote are italians. i would put my money on an italian and quite possibly archbishop of milan. bill: of milan? >> yeah. bill: i remember hearing this same argument eight

years ago. >> yes, exactly. bill: while in vatican city and listening to everyone speculate about who will be the next point. >> milan too then, right? bill: that's correct. he was one of them. take us inside the sistine chapel. this will be the heart of this discussion in a couple weeks. >> yeah. bill: i almost see the college of cardinals as this larger than life fraternity. >> yeah. bill: where at least socially they're jockeying for position. they're allowing other men to know that they potentially could hold this position and lead the church. and perhaps they politic at a lower level. but it's my belief that it does happen and there are those who are trying it suggest that i could be the best choice to lead this church? >> there is no secret that there is politics in rome man catholic church and politics among the cardinals, certainly. they do their own talking. however, we do believe thee logically and spiritually that the holly spirit moves in that conclave and the man

who gets chosen, ultimately it is the will of god. now you can be a cynic say, come on, it is all about politics but i do think to give some room for the holy spirit, this conservative groups of cardinals may elect a very progressive pope and if that is the case the holy spirit got in there somewhere. bill: angela scola is the cardinal from milan. >> thank you. bill: cardinal edward beck here in new york. >> thank you. bill: martha. martha: now back to washington and the ongoing slugfest over government spending. the president took some major heat for reportedly telling house speaker john boehner that he does not believe our country has a spending problem but on "fox news sunday" house minority leader nancy pelosi said pretty much exactly the same thing. while admitting that our debt and deficit are at record levels she calls, quote immoral. >> it is almost a false argument to say with very a spending problem. we have a budget deficit problem we have to address. right now we have low interest on the national

debt, and it is a good time for us to act to lower that deficit. we think that the deficit and national debt are at a immoral levels. we think they must be reduced. we're sick and tired of paying interest on the national debt. and that 15%, that is large percentage of the budget, the interest on the national debt. it is lower now because of the lower interest rates. martha: hmmm. what do you think about that? send us a tweet @marthamaccallum or @billhemmer because that is an interesting statement from nancy pelosi. she suggested that tax reform instead of spending cuts as a solution could get things back on track. it is interesting, bill. we're hearing so much talk about closing loopholes and things along those lines which conservatives wanted to do the first time around. they didn't want to raise rates. they suggested doing a real overhaul of our tax reform system in this country which a lot of people have been talking about since the election but now, they're suggesting really both actually would be the way to go. bill: when it comes to the cuts, 1.2 trillion, i thought what senator roy

blunt sad last hour was quite revealing. he believes they will happen. if they do what then? we're up against it. a million dollars being offered now for a nuge tiff ex-cop -- fugitive ex-cop who murdered three people. the latest on a desperate search to find this man. >> our confidence we will bring him to justice sun shaken. this search is not a matter of if. it's a matter of when. and i want christopher dorner to know that. [ fishing r, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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bill: want to get back to the shooting in wilmington, delaware, at a courthouse there. police at the moment are going door-to-door after this courthouse shooting to make sure that the entire scene is secure. the mayor says a man suspected of killing his wife and wounding two others at the county courthouse in new castle is dead. that is according to the ap. mayor dennis williams says

the shooter was killed by police. he was also told the man shot and killed his wife and wounded two others about 8:10 a.m. eastern time. which would have been 2 1/2 hours ago. williams, also, the mayor, williams, says the couple was estranged at the moment. so we're working more on that story out of wilmington, delaware. martha: los angeles authorities are now offering a one million dollar reward for information that leads to the arrest of a fugitive ex-cop wanted in the murders of three people. this as the search for 33-year-old christopher dorner continues still today. numerous rumors, a lot of tips that have failed to turn up any solid leads on where this man may have disappeared to into the snow at big bear in california late last week but despite these setbacks, l.a. mayor antonio villaraigosa promised that the police will in the end find him. >> i will not tolerate this

reign of terror that has robbed us of the peace of mind that residents of southern california deserve. we will not tolerate this murderer remaining at large. martha: what is going on in dorner's mind at this point? bill gavin is a former new york fbi assistant director. dr. keith ablow is a forensic psychiatrist and a fox news contributor. gentlemen, welcome. i think each morning that you woke up over the weekend you hoped you would get some good news on this but this guy is still out there. bill gavin, what do you do now? >> martha, this is extremely difficult case. you don't know what set, well we know what set him off but it probably was a long time coming and i'm sure dr. ablow will have some more information on that. but right now it is just total cooperation between all law enforcement agencies. the fbi can perhaps do out of state, out of country work for the los angeles pd but you've got a guy who has

the playbook. he knows the protocol, practices, and the procedures of the los angeles police department but he up against the entire department, martha. that is not easy for him. martha: but he had a lot of time, bill. that snowstorm came in. it made it more difficult. they were still out there searching for him but the trail went cold outside of that incinerated truck. the footprints went only so far. he had a lot of time. >> he has had a lot of time, martha, to do whatever. he obviously has plotted this out fairly well. he had a lot of time to do what he has done and needs to do to escape. if he is still in this cold, the advantage of course is with the police department because the cold has a devastating effect on people over a series of time. martha: let's bring in dr. ablow. you try to get into this man's mind. committed three murders. he is on the lam somewhere right now. what goes on? >> well, let me help people think like a forensic psychiatrist which is my specialty. something long ago set the

stage for this. so we know now this is a guy without empa think. he is capable of killing the daughter of someone he thinks offended him. that means that this isn't about his firing, trust me. it is about something in the distant past, whether it is sexual abuse or something where he felt completely disempowered. one thing is, we could reach back in his history to try to find the characters who were involved in some aspect events he couldn't control and try to bring them forward. to deprive him of the myth that this is about him being fired. this is about somebody who doesn't even know why he is doing what he is doing. and i think bringing some of those characters to bear here could be a good thing. and depriving him of the legendary status. he is no legend. he is a punk. the bottom line he doesn't have the courage to look at his own life. martha: does he likely go to some place he knows, that he is comfortable with? there was a story early on he tried to get on a boat to

take off. does leave the country? dig into it for me, dr. keith? er. here's the thing. we can take him as his word. he knows the ropes. he won't go nowhere where he is expected to go. he is waging war. i think he is committed to it. he is involved narcissisticly in it and he wants to be not predictable and therefore will not be predictable. martha: bill, what does that mean for the folks hot to be on this guy's trail? >> what it means, martha, they have to look where the leads are taking them in the snow there but they also have to have a panorama of every place this individual could possibly go. it is like dr. ablow said, you're going to be finding him someplace where you didn't think you would find him. martha: that doesn't sound encourage couraging from either one of you. this is very tough challenge, isn't it, dr. keith.

>> it is. this guy engaged social media to put his media out. we should have indigo go or some other site, start collecting reward, go to 50 million from people donating. as somebody triggers social media, so the can it bite you back. i would love to see somebody create that campaign i which donate today if someone would do it. martha: is that a good idea, bill gavin? is that the avenue that the police will be tapping into as well? >> i think the police at this point, martha, this is such a desperate individual and he has committed so many despicable acts to date the police will use whatever they possibly can to him into custody and try him for the horrible criminal he is. he is no longer a police officer. martha: no, that's for sure. you're telling us there is really no border to this search. dr. ablow, you're telling us he will do something unpredictable. >> yes. martha: we'll see where it goes from here. gentlemen, thank you very much. bill: amazing thing in this day and age this thing is

going on this many days later. it might be the only way to truly prepare for disaster. who the national guard is working with to practice their response before facing real-life tragedies. we'll show you that. martha: an update from here in the northeast after an historic blizzard forces travel to shut down for two entire states, stranding some motorists overnight. >> never seen it this bad. i think this is the worst. >> this is terrible. they said the national guard are here too, look. >> we thought we were walking over park benches and cars we weren't sure because they were so buried. hi, i'm grant weber and i sell subarus to dogs.

i know having kids is no easy picnic. i mean, sure they're cute and cuddly and a source of tremendous joy, but in the end they're just a whole litter of work. all the more reason to come down and pick yourself out a new subaru. safe. and with it, a little peace of mind. [car horn honks] they'll be back. once you sit in a subaru, you'll stay.

martha: rescue crews rushing to the scene of a massive pileup on a california highway but this accident thankfully is not real, folks. a warning for some viewers though who still may find this disturbing.

take a look. >> save me!. martha: save me. oh, the screaming it is awful but it is not real. they're actors. and this is a drill so that they will be ready when the real thing happens. it is all part of that kind of exercise. california state military reserve and the national guard teamed up with student nurses and emts for a drill. they're pretty good screamers, bill. they're very authentic screamers. bill: big vocals in the story. parts of the northeast disrecovering from a different kind of disaster i should say. even after travel was banned across the entire states of connecticut and massachusetts, that record-setting snowfall is plentying a cleanup challenge the likes of which one state has not seen in more than one years. >> this is a record snowfall, the likes of which our state has never seen or, had not seen since the 1880s. unfortunately we live in

much more urban environment or maybe it is fortunate. it is urban and compact environment and moving a lot of snow piles are going to require heavier equipment. some of that equipment is on its way. bill: molly line is there already. live in plymouth, massachusetts. what kind of travel concerns are people facing there, molly? >> reporter: man, it, yeah, it is tough out here the rain just started, the freezing rain. that's a big concern. they have already got snow on a lot of roadways, particularly the secondary roads. now that the rain is coming down they're worried about it freezing and creating problems for the afternoon conmoo my commute. the breakdown lanes are filled with snow. this will be a major concern as the day goes on. it is saturating the snow and making it heavier. there are concerns about roof collapses. we're keeping an eye on that. we heard one pedestrian was hit by a tractor-trailer out west of the city, out west of boston. a lot of these sidewalks are

still covered with snow so there will be pedestrians out and a lot big high snow berms. that is one of the other concerns. visibility is big concern, bill. bill: that they can stay warm. how many people without power, molly? >> reporter: thankfully those numbers are dropping rapidly. there were 400,000 initially to the height of the storm. that dropped to 100,000. most of them here in plymouth. this is the main street here, still in the dark. people are digging out. you can see guys with snow shovels getting to bottom of all the ice that caused a lot of problems. wires are iced over in a lot of places. that is one of the challenges utility crews are facing, just getting to the things they need to get to. some of it is buried. it may be possibly thursday before everyone gets their power back. bill? bill: thursday. my. thanks, molly line. it will be a long week up there in plymouth. thank you. martha: we're continuing to follow this historic announcement that came out of the vatican this morning where pope benedict xvi shocked some of his closest aides we're hearing when he

announced he will resign. this has not happened in 600 years, folks. popes typically do not resign. now the search begins for his successor. we'll be right back.